Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) module temperature characteristics are influential to accurately measure the efficiency of PV. The study focuses on methods of improvement in PV efficiency by heat transfer effect. Thermo Electric Generator (TEG) is a device that can be used to generate electrical energy where temperature gradient is available. In this work, it is investigated that heat absorbed by PV can be utilized to generate temperature gradient. The wasted heat produced in solar cell, TEG can be used to produce electricity other than solar cell. By using TEGs minimum temperature drop of 9 C and maximum of 15 C across 4 cells was recorded. Comparing temperature drop obtained by using TEGs and heat exchanger with the referred values, 7.5% improvement in power output is recorded. It was concluded that using TEGs not only temperature drops across the module, but also the power can be obtained from the TEGs other than the solar cell. The waste heat produced in the solar cell can be used to produce energy using TEGs.